Grunt, mumble, bite lip, repeat

I like Kristen Stewart.

There's something, simply, bizarre about her: apathetic more often than not, this girl is simply weird.  She grumbles, she seldom forms complete sentences, she cracks a smile less frequently than a corpse.  I would wager that she isn't used to the sort of fame and rabid fandom that came from and is the Twilight saga, but I could never blame her, because my impression too is that she was never overly invested in it to begin with and I can't imagine what it would be like to build your life up around something that you don't wholeheartedly love yourself.  Then again, I could be completely off base - for all we know she could be the biggest Twilight fan there is and she fangirls when she's by herself because she gets to play opposite (and date in real life!) Rob Pattinson - but I just don't see that.  All that being said, though, I've noticed recently that she's been more expressive and, really, funny, but she's still fundamentally just bizarre.

To say that I like Kristen Stewart then seems like a left field claim to make considering I've likened her habits and personality to something of an oaf, but I truly do like her for some reason; back when the first Twilight came out - I loathed it like any other sensible human being - I remember saying I loved her as a sort of mockery, though I can remember then look back to her filmography with a sense of being somewhat impressed as easily as I would now.  It certainly helps her case that the last Twilight movie is to be released in November (thank god), and that she's been popping up in other movies, much easier even, I would argue, than any of the Harry Potter kids.  Something still just doesn't sit right about seeing Daniel Radcliffe as a widower with a four year old child in The Woman in Black - he's still Harry Potter and sadly might always be (I can foresee a great career regardless), but I digress.  Also in her favour is that brightness that is slowly emerging about her as I've already mentioned, and I mean that in the sense that she doesn't crumple into a jagged ball of skeleton when on a red carpet or at an award show like she used to, or that she seems a lot more comfortable in interviews or whatnot (see: her and her Snow White castmates reading raunchy exerpts from Fifty Shades of Grey), or that she's able to smile and, dare I even say with absolute conviction, look attractive.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, is Kristen Stewart the fairest of them all?  The funny thing about when Snow White and the Huntsman was announced with her in the titular, fairest role, I disagreed.  I know for a fact this movie might suffer because of some peoples' absolute disdain for the girl, or that envisioning her as this fabled beauty is hard for some, but I find that unfortunate considering this thing looks visually beautiful - if nothing else, as reviews might indicate.  Yes, when in contrast to Charlize Theron, she might pail in comparison, but even the biggest hater needs to look directly at her face and agree: she is attractive.  She might not be classically beautiful and her persona or characteristics might be off putting to some, but she is a good looking girl.  That is to say, when she isn't hunched over, trapped in the disgusting blue filter that is Twilight.

That's it: Twilight.  That is the only reason she has a bad reputation.  I hate that franchise as much as everyone else, and I hate that someone as talentless as Stephenie Meyer has constricted a staple in horror mythology with one tightening of her fist, but to needlessly bash something with any merit as many people do would be doing so for the sake of doing so - and therefore it isn't my target.  As I mentioned before, I would say that Kristen Stewart's career has at least been above average - she has done much better than, say, Megan Fox (although she was just fine in Friends with Kids), but she comes nowhere close to Meryl Streep or Kate Winslet - and that her work in this past movies is actually good.  Her Bella Swan-awkward carries over into Adventureland, a movie which benefits from the comedy of a fellow Kristen, Wiig, and Bill Hader, but she doesn't destroy the movie at all; if you feel like ripping on her, I'd ask you to watch Panic Room, or Into the Wild; maybe not The Runaways only because it was bad (she wasn't that bad, though), and I've heard very good things about Welcome to the Rileys where we find her as a prostitute.  Point is: she is a talented young actress, but I'm afraid that Twilight will always leave a dark stain on her career, a stain she'll never beat.

Twilight is the easiest vehicle to hate on her.  (I need to step aside to say that this really seems like a defense of her; I'm not that crazy about her, I just feel like the hate she gets is unwarranted) Yes, the movies are absolute abominations, and she simply is awful in them - but everyone in that movie is bloody awful.  You can't look at any of the films and pinpoint a strong acting performance - that's how inherently bad being a part of something like them would be on your reputation.  Had she never been Bella Swan, I don't believe looking at her in Snow White as 'the fairest of them all' would be an issue; instead, we see Bella Swan in a medieval dress, we see Bella Swan riding a horse in armor, and we see Bella Swan attempting to usurp this mad queen.  We've seen Bella Swan be an amusement park worker, the object of Jesse Eisenberg's affections; as Joan Jett, or as a prostitute.  That is how poignant the character is on her - much like how I referenced Dan Rad as forever being the wizard under the stairs - but what works as a detriment to her favour is that Bella Swan and Twilight are embarrassments.  Not to mention I don't think something like a movie centered around sparkling vampires would be a good showcase of talent.

So, yeah, I've come to like her a lot.  I don't know what it is; she has something that's likable about her, to me at least.  But that's because I can excuse Twilight as a misstep, and that I can realize that there is a reason why she's booked these huge roles and has become as famous as she is - remember, it wasn't her first movie job, so something had to have been there to establish her name enough to become this 'beloved' character.  Regardless, I know the hatred will never stop; I know that a portion of Snow White and the Huntsman's audience will be affected by this stigma surrounding her.

I don't care.  I'm excited to see the movie in an hour, anyways, and I'm fully invested as her being the fairest of them all - in this universe of fiction, at the very least.